South Side Syracuse church faces move, end of an era

Dennis Nett / The Post-StandardParish members of the New Jerusalem Church of God bow their heads in prayer on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010. The classrooms and gym at the rear of the church have collapsed and the fire department is making the congregation move out by the end of the month. The congregation is looking for a new place to worship.

The Rev. James Jones says when he was 12 or 13 years old Syracuse Mayor Lee Alexander turned over a boarded up building at 1641 S. Salina St. to his father and his congregation with the stipulation that the place be used for religious purposes.

Back then, the place had been most recently used as a youth center, but it was built in 1884 as the Danforth Congregational Church. It was part of the Danforth Settlement, as that section of South Salina Street was known, named after Gen. Asa Danforth, an American Revolutionary War veteran.

“My father unboarded it and put his own personal money in and turned it back into a church in 1972,” Jones said.

It become the home of the New Jerusalem Church of God in Christ, and his father, the Rev. Thornton Jones, led it until his death in 1992. For five and a half years, Jones said, his mother, Princeola Jones, kept the congregation going.

But over the years, the historic building, which wasn’t in great shape to begin with, fell into disrepair. Now, the congregation has been ordered by the city to get out of the building by the end of the month.

Dennis Nett / The Post-StandardRev. James Jones of the New Jeruselem Church on S. Salina St. in Syracuse starts one of his last sermons at the current church building.

Fire Department Deputy Chief Stephen Cavuto felt so bad he delivered the news personally, instead of by registered mail, said Jones, the current pastor of the church. The city sent the notice after the fire department inspected it several three weeks ago.

“They’re scared of the pressure of the winter, with the snow and the rain, that it may cave in, it may fall into the sanctuary,” Jones said. An addition of classrooms and a gym in the rear, collapsed years ago.

The congregation of roughly 30 faithful families doesn’t have the millions it would take to repair the building, Jones said. It has tried over the years to get grants and find other means to pay for improvements but they didn’t come through, he said.

Jones has no problem with the city’s decision. He said he was impressed and honored when Mayor Stephanie Miner invited him and a deacon to meet about the situation.

“The mayor stood behind us and said if there was anything that the city could do to help us find a temporary home, that they will definitely be doing that,” Jones said.

The congregation would like to stay in the city if it can, but is open to other ideas for its short-term home, Jones said. The congregation has mixed emotions about leaving the church with so much history and so many good times, but it was costly to stay there, with utility bills that sometimes topped $2,500 a month in the winter, Jones said.

The congregation believes that God is leading the way and opening doors for its future, he said.

“We do know that we are going to stick together as a church family and continue to do the work of the Lord,” Jones said.